Orientation specific synthesis of kinked silicon nanowires grown by the vapour-liquid-solid mechanism

Kinked silicon nanowires (Si-NWs) were synthesized in a well reproducible manner using gold nanocluster-catalyzed quasi-one-dimensional growth on Si(111) substrates with silane (SiH4) as the precursor gas. The kinking is considered to be due to the change in the growth direction induced by the sudden change of the pressure during Si-NW synthesis. Structural high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) characterization of the sample shows that epitaxial Si-NWs synthesized on Si(111) substrates at a total pressure of 3 mbar grow along the < 111 > direction, while the ones at 15 mbar favour the < 112 > direction. By dynamically changing the system pressure during the growth process morphological changes of the NW growth directions along their length have been shown, resulting in kinked nanowires. The crystallographic orientation relation of the kinking between the 3 and 15 mbar ranges has been analysed by TEM. It is shown that no defects or grain boundaries in the intersection between the two sections of the Si-NWs are necessary to form such kinks between different wire directions.